We woke up this morning at 5:30am for a 6am departure from our hotel in Banfora, where missing breakfast became an afterthought as we drove out for an early sunrise boat trip on the Tengrela Lake.
Trusting our fate to the lake, we paddled out to see local herd of hippos up close. According to local legend, the hippos are sacred and would never attack humans. They just watched us.
Returning from the lake after a half an hour watching the sunrise, we drove back and found a roadside restaurant for a breakfast that felt like it was meant to be there for us.
Once taking care of breakfast drama, we drove onwards to explore another group of impressive rock formations at the Peaks of Sindou.
After a 1.5km stroll up to the top and reaching a grand 415 meters above sea level, we reached the highest point in Burkina Faso.
Historically, the peaks were a popular place for many to live as it offered excellent natural defense against invaders. Each rock formation has a story and even sport recognizable humanlike facial features if you look hard enough.
From the peaks we then proceeded a few minutes away to visit a local village named Kawara.
Kawara has been known for its long tradition of potters and pottery.
You may want to look away, however, when you see what they do with some of the animals.
The village is also regarded for a traditional pottery dance, which they would put on for us as we were leaving,
It would appear that some of us in the group may have had a harder time saying goodbye.
We then we hiked about 1.5km to Karfiguela Falls, a series of waterfalls that marks one of Burkina Faso’s most popular tourist sites.
We then had lunch in the woods at the bottom . . .
. . . before hiking up to kicking off our shoes and jumping in.
Drying off after about 45 minutes of swimming, we then dressed back up and then it was off to Bobo Dioulasso, the second largest city in the country and home to beautiful neo-Sudanic architecture.
For dinner some of us stayed behind at our Hotel L’Auberge, while others went to visit the maquis, a typical Burkinabe open-air bar.
